By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Theodore Quintana, Navy Office of Community Outreach
SASEBO, Japan – A Stockbridge, Georgia, native and 2015 Stockbridge High School graduate is serving
Petty Officer 3rd Class Brendan Bell is an engineman aboard the ship operating out of Sasebo, Japan.
A Navy engineman is responsible for operating and maintaining diesel engines and reduction gears used for ship propulsion and auxiliary machinery.
Bell is proud to serve in the Pacific and fondly recalls memories of Stockbridge.
“Growing up in Georgia I learned how to enjoy the little things my job is pretty busy so I enjoy the little time I have to enjoy things,” said Bell.
Moments like that makes it worth serving around the world ready at all times to defend America’s interests. With more than 50 percent of the world's shipping tonnage and a third of the world's crude oil passing through the region, the United States has historic and enduring interests in this part of the world. The Navy's presence in Sasebo is part of that long-standing commitment, explained Navy officials.
Commissioned in 1986, Germantown is the second Navy ship named after the Revolutionary War Battle of Germantown. With a crew of more than 900 sailors and Marines, Germantown is 609 feet long and weighs approximately 16,000 tons. Designed specifically to operate landing craft air cushion small craft vessels, Whidbey Island-class dock landing ships have the largest capacity for these landing craft out of any U.S. Navy amphibious ship.
“The Navy has taught me how to work a lot better with others and realize that everyone is not the same, people's motivations are different,” said Bell. “The Navy has made me more time efficient and allowed me to get more involved with command functions.”
As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s most relied-upon assets, Bell and other sailors know they are part of a legacy that will last beyond their lifetimes providing the Navy the nation needs.
“Serving in the Navy is a family tradition," said Bell. "I feel like I’m running with the torch. It gives me more pride and respect for doing what my family did before.”
Seventh Fleet, which is celebrating its 75th year in 2018, spans more than 124 million square kilometers, stretching from the International Date Line to the India/Pakistan border; and from the Kuril Islands in the North to the Antarctic in the South. Seventh Fleet's area of operation encompasses 36 maritime countries and 50 percent of the world’s population with between 50-70 U.S. ships and submarines, 140 aircraft, and approximately 20,000 sailors in the 7th Fleet.